Question: Hi HPA – what’s your opinion on PDFing premed prerequisites? What about advanced science courses?

Answer: As of March 19, 2020, there is no consensus among health professions schools regarding whether P/F grades will be accepted in place of letter grades. Keep in mind that many medical schools are using online learning within their curricula, so this will provide helpful practice. And in medicine, you will often be required to perform under stress and in unexpected circumstances, as you are this semester. 

Because you have been given the option of taking the courses for grades, we would strongly recommend maintaining the grade option for your sciences, especially prerequisite courses.

You may consider PDFing other courses, which would allow for more time to focus on those science courses, and be sure to use the McGraw Center’s resources to maximize your online learning. Your performance this semester will be a testament to your resilience and adaptability, which are among the core competencies that medical schools seek in future physicians.

That said, our hope is that health professions schools will understand the unprecedented circumstances that we are all facing this spring, so if you feel that you need to PDF a science course, reach out to us so we can talk with you and provide advice based on your specific situation. We will try to help convey your rationale and your specific situation in our committee letter of recommendation, but it is still unknown how schools may respond.

Keep in mind that there are a number of medical schools that have moved to competency-based entrance requirements rather than specific courses, so there will be some schools you can apply to, even if other schools ultimately will not accept the PDF grades for prerequisites. We hope to learn more from schools as the semester progresses. Consider attending the AAMC Virtual Fair on March 27 to chat directly with admissions officers.

We continue to recommend that you demonstrate academic readiness for the rigor of medical school by engaging in robust graded science preparation (at least 10-12 biology, chemistry, science, and math courses, ideally taken during a full course load), securing strong academic letters of recommendation, and doing well on the MCAT.  

QOTW 2019: Specialties
QOTW 2018: Preparing for a Postbac Career Changer Program